Meta

Archive for December, 2014

It’s Christmas day and where do we find Reist? Running of course. Today’s OTR with Reist is right in the middle of his “speedwork” thanks to his new GoPro camera. If your not familiar with speedwork, 800m repeats, 1/4 mile recoveries, you will be today! Make it a part of your training. It’s hard work but well worth it!

HOW: Now that you’ve watched OTR and learned why we do this type of speedwork, the next question is how. It’s simple.

1) Find a track or fairly level road/path. If it is a road/path map out 1/2mile (800m). Most tracks, this is 2x around the track

2) Warm up run. Open up your workout with an easy run that gets your body ready to work. When your sweating… your ready.

3. Speedwork: Run a brisk pace for the duration of 800m. This is to be your maximum speed that you can manage for an entire 800m. (If your familiar with mile repeats, Mens Health suggests subtracting 10 seconds from that pace.) If this is your first attempt at speedwork, don’t overestimate your ability right away. Get a feel for 800m on the first repeat and then adjust on each one going forward

4. After your first 800m, slow down and jog an easy 400m (1/4 mile or 1x around track) recovery run.

5. Repeat the 800m with 400m recovery a few times your first workout*.

6. Each following time you do speedwork, add one 800m repeat as you can*.

It definitely is hard work but running at your maximum capacity is the best way to improve it. By putting in these repeats, you will be able to run faster with the same effort.

*Want more specific advice on how many 800m Repeats are right for your workout? Email runhardalwaysfinish@gmail.com and let us know!

Questions? Leave them in the comments below! Add thoughts on this here as well.

Where do we find Reist today? Florida! Any of you runHARD faithful in the great Sunshine State, make sure to give Reist a high five if you see him out on the road in his runHARD gear! Check out this OTR video

It’s that time of year when you have to decide whether to go outside and run. Here are a few encouraging words for you before you go. Thanks to all of you who have bought shirts to support our cause (National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer). If you want to check them out. Hit up our runHARD Gear page.

What is it in a runners DNA that causes such disdain for the “Rest Day”. We can read all the training manuals, listen to all the experts talk about the importance of the rest day, yet when that day arrives and as we go through those dreaded 24 hours, why is our guilt so acute? We can literally take the last candy bar out of our child’s Halloween bag and feel less guilt than we do on a rest day. Usually when I’m on a rest day I’m pretty sure I can feel the training that I have put in, draining right out of my body as I sit around lazily. What I don’t feel are my muscles repairing, my tendons strengthening, my bones thankful for a break from the pounding that I put on them on a daily basis. So yes I know it’s good for me and I know that my body needs it, but I’m a mess upstairs when I have to take a rest day. Putting it simply I just want to run.

How do I determine when I take a rest day? For me it is usually on the days that I have heavy travel. When I am going to be in and out of airports and by the time I get to the hotel I simply cannot move anymore. (On a side-note, rest days usually mean a little bit of cheating in the eating department. There is definitely going to be a donut getting devoured!)

So embrace the rest day, look at it as a day to regroup. Don’t feel guilty, because while you sit in your chair staring at your shoes, longing to go run, you are doing the right thing. – Reist

Introducing a new way to connect! Periodically, Reist will share video logs from the road, the trail, or wherever he happens to be. Tune in for a note of encouragement, humor, or whatever might have motivated him to run that last mile.

I made the conscious decision as winter approached, to not complain about having to log some of my miles on the treadmill. As I travel each week there are often times when I arrive at the hotel late, it is dark, and I am unfamiliar with the area, making the treadmill a welcomed option.

With that being said, last night I CRUSHED my run in a little workout room in my hotel in Springdale, Arkansas and the endorphins had the same effect.

Let’s be clear, if you hate cold weather and you choose to run on a treadmill, you are still a “real” runner and you should be proud of the results.

There are so many examples of awesomeness coming across the posts today. This weekend people have run half marathons, full marathons, 5K, 10K’s, Ultra’s and it goes on and on. Here is what is so cool, all week leading up to this, I read about everybody being nervous about their races. And yet you did it, you found your inner awesome and you showed it to the world. You were stronger than you knew.